Friday, January 1, 2010

Last night in Miami, we reached the conclusion of an important year in the history of Phish. The quartet worked up their skills and dug deep through their repertoire all year long. Quite often the band was successful at satiating their notoriously hard-to-please fanbase while aiming to stay clear of the dreaded “nostalgia act” tag. For the fourth show of four at the American Airlines Arena, Phish didn’t disappoint offering the typical NYE fare of a few hearty jams, plenty of classics, a few bust outs and the “gimmick” which this year revolved around a little known female drummer named Sarah.

Unlike on the 30th, the quartet kicked things off with a fairly standard opening sequence of AC/DC Bag, 46 Days and Water In The Sky before stretching it out a bit for Bathtub Gin. There was so much energy floating around the venue – which was way more crowded for New Year’s than any other night – that the band would receive big cheers any time they dropped a familiar lyric or an impressive musical phrase. I’d love to say the boys were extremely tight last night, but there were plenty of clams and missed transitions, although that’s somewhat to be expected on New Year’s Eve. Read more at hiddentrack

Their mantra is "Take it Furthur," and for Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, two of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, they're taking it as far as Mill Valley's 142 Throckmorton Theatre for eight nights of surprise shows beginning Sunday.
Billed as "Live Rehearsal Sessions," Weir and Lesh, leading a new band called Furthur, named after Ken Kesey's psychedelic bus, will be playing nightly at the 300-capacity theater from Sunday through Jan. 10.

The first three shows were instant sell-outs after they were announced on the Furthur.net Web site on New Year's Eve. Tickets for the next five concerts, all scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., were to go on sale on the site at 9 a.m. Friday.

The band - Weir, Lesh, Jeff Chimenti, John Kadlecik, Jay Lane and Joe Russo - is warming up for a national tour that begins Feb. 5 at Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Miami, Fla., and is scheduled to finish Feb. 26 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Furthur also played New Year's concerts Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

Tickets for the Mill Valley shows, priced at $25, are being limited to one per person. Theater personnel are bracing for an onslaught of Deadheads hopeful of scoring a ticket. But, on its Web site, the band pleaded with its fans not to come without one.

"There will be absolutely NO tickets available at the door!," it said. "We'd like very much to be able to do these types of small events in the future and we ask your help in allowing us to do so. Security will not allow loitering anywhere near the venue. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated."

Set 3: Party Time > Auld Lang Syne > Down with Disease, Fluffhead, Joy, The Squirming Coil, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Blue Moon, Loving Cup
Notes: Bag and Ghost contained ALS teases. Swept Away and Steep were played for the first time since July 1, 2000 (145 shows). Demand was played for the first time since November 14, 1996 (392 shows).